Chapter 11: Obsession
The three entered the mountain cave. It was as if there was some taboo, and the people outside did not pursue them, only lingering outside the cave for a while before leaving.
When Jin Sui saw Madam Jiang lying in the cave, she understood why those people dared not enter.
If the people outside who could walk and move were like patients, then Madam Jiang’s condition was not far from death.
The people outside must have been afraid of her contagious illness, which is why they dared not approach the cave. In other words, Madam Jiang was abandoned here to die.
She was so thin that she was unrecognizable, her cheekbones protruding high, her eye sockets sunken, and her lips and chin were still stained with half-dried blood.
Beside the withered grass she lay on, there were also large pools of blood.
Beauty is in the bone, not the skin. Even in such a sickly state, one could tell how beautiful Madam Jiang was in her youth. The original owner looked very much like Madam Jiang.
Jin An’s eyes turned red, and he said with a choked voice, “Mother has been vomiting blood and has been unconscious for two days.”
Jin Sui stepped forward to examine Madam Jiang, quietly took her pulse, and sighed in her heart. Madam Jiang was already terminally ill. To be honest, it was a miracle that she had held on until now.
Even if she had a laboratory and could produce medicine from it, she could not cure Madam Jiang.
However, she still fed Madam Jiang some glucose water. Just as she finished a bottle of water, Madam Jiang’s eyelids trembled, and she slowly woke up.
Her pale cheeks were tinged with a faint blush, and her eyes regained their spirit.
Jin An thought his sister had given her a miraculous elixir and said joyfully:
“Mother, you’re finally awake! Grandpa and sister are here.”
But Grandpa Ling and Jin Sui’s hearts trembled. Madam Jiang’s appearance was clearly a final burst of energy before death.
Looking at the excited Jin An, what a pitiful child. His father had just died, they were exiled all the way, and the skin on his ankles was still broken by the iron chains.
His mother was about to die. Even with his grandfather and sister, it was too cruel for the child.
Madam Jiang’s gaze slowly fell on Jin An’s face, and tears immediately welled up.
She reached out her emaciated hand and gently stroked Jin An’s face, her heart filled with reluctance. The more she looked, the less she had.
This was the last time the mother and son would see each other.
Jin Sui thought she would keep looking at Jin An until she breathed her last, but unexpectedly, she only said one thing to Jin An:
“From now on, listen to Grandpa and study hard.”
She wanted to sit up, but after trying, her strength was no longer sufficient. She apologetically said to Grandpa Ling:
“Father, please forgive your daughter-in-law for not being able to pay her respects.”
Grandpa Ling quickly stepped forward to comfort her, “You have suffered.”
Madam Jiang’s tears flowed incessantly, but her eyes showed immense resilience. She stared at Grandpa Ling and said:
“My husband was wronged. He was made a scapegoat by his superiors! The letter the constables found was not written by him!”
“My poor husband, with his low rank and no backing, was harmed by them.”
Grandpa Ling quickly asked, “Who was Qingfeng’s superior?”
Ling Chao, courtesy name Qingfeng, was precisely Father Ling’s name.
“Huang Yizhong, the prefect of Lantian County. That letter was written by him to the Abandoned Crown Prince.”
“After the incident, he put the letter and the Abandoned Crown Prince’s reply in the official documents and delivered them to my husband overnight.”
“Father, you must vindicate my husband and avenge him!”
“Huang Yizhong defected to the Second Prince, not only saving his life but also getting promoted.”
“It’s just a pity for my husband, who died so unjustly and tragically!”
The last sentence seemed to be the cry of Madam Jiang’s soul, filled with deep unwillingness and hatred.
Jin Sui felt that Madam Jiang’s request was a bit difficult. Grandpa Ling was an old Taoist nearly seventy years old, and Jin An was an eight-year-old child.
Well, and her, a daughter who had just reached the age of marriage, but she was on the official wanted list.
How could three people like this seek revenge on a court official?
Suddenly, Madam Jiang coughed violently, spitting out large mouthfuls of fresh blood.
Jin An cried anxiously, repeatedly saying, “Mother, I will definitely avenge Father. Don’t get agitated.”
As if knowing time was short, Madam Jiang looked at Grandpa Ling:
“Father, please take Xiao An out first. Your daughter-in-law has a few words she wants to say to Jin Sui.”
Jin Sui’s mind raced. Since she entered the cave, Madam Jiang hadn’t even spared her a glance.
In the original owner’s memories, there were very few interactions with her mother. Madam Jiang was always distant towards her.
The most she said was to teach her to behave, learn needlework, and obey her grandfather.
Jin Sui could understand why the original owner’s obsession was ‘finding Grandpa’ and not ‘finding Mother’.
So why did Madam Jiang, knowing she was about to leave, not say more to her beloved son or father-in-law, but wanted to keep her alone?
Did she want her to seek revenge for Father Ling by any means necessary, and those words were not convenient for Jin An to hear?
Grandpa Ling was also puzzled and didn’t ask any more questions, firmly leading away Jin An, who was unwilling to leave.
Jin An knelt before Madam Jiang. After a long pause, he couldn’t bring himself to call her ‘Mother’ and only called out, “Mother.”
Madam Jiang stared at her intently, but her gaze seemed to be through a veil, through mist, as if trying to see someone else through her.
Just as Jin Sui was about to ask what she wanted to tell her alone, she heard Madam Jiang say something that made her turn pale with shock:
“You are not Jin Sui.”
Without giving Jin Sui a chance to explain, she continued, “My poor Jin Sui came to see me last night. She came to take me with her on the journey.”
Hearing this, even if Ling Jin Sui had a thousand words to explain, she couldn’t say them. She couldn’t deceive someone who was about to die.
“Yes, I am not your daughter. I don’t know why the dead me has been resurrected in this body.”
“But please rest assured, I will not harm Grandpa or Jin An. I am not a bad person.”
Madam Jiang smiled. Indeed, upon hearing Jin Sui’s admission, she was not afraid but rather relieved.
Blood stained her lips, and the hatred for Huang Yizhong, the sorrow for her husband’s unjust death, the reluctance to leave her son, and the bitterness of her own fate had not yet faded from her eyes.
This smile was as tragically beautiful as a blood-stained red plum, dyed with the frost of the world, yet it was a smile of defiance against fate.
“You were sought from the gods by Jin Sui. You are not a lonely ghost, but the savior of our Ling family,” Madam Jiang said with great certainty.
Ling Jin Sui was shocked. If you put such a heavy hat on me, I can’t bear it!
Madam Jiang, using all her strength, suddenly grabbed her hand:
“My daughter’s body has been given to you. Consider it a plea from mother and daughter to you. Please, you must vindicate Jin Sui’s father!”
Jin Sui instinctively wanted to break free from her hand but found she couldn’t.
Tears flowed from Madam Jiang’s eyes again, actually bloody tears. Her expression was not ferocious, but her tone was like a curse:
“I beg you, vindicate my husband! Otherwise, I will not rest in peace in the Yellow Springs.”
Jin Sui could only say, “I am not an Immortal, just an ordinary person. I promise you, I will do my best.”
Madam Jiang seemed satisfied with this promise and slowly released her hand, her tone tinged with apology:
“Jin An and Grandpa are also entrusted to you.”
“Good child, you are a good child. I will bless you in the Yellow Springs.”
“Don’t be afraid, Jin Sui, Mother is here.”
Jin Sui wanted to ask more about Father Ling’s case, but found that after Madam Jiang said this, her eyes wide open, filled with deep affection, she stopped breathing.
Her heart trembled, and she gently closed Madam Jiang’s eyes.
Suddenly, she felt as if she had lost her balance, as if her body was falling downwards.
Accompanied by a faint voice in her ear: “Thank you, please help me take good care of Grandpa and my younger brother.”
In an instant, the feeling of weightlessness disappeared. Jin Sui felt a chill all over her body, as if she had just been soaked in cold water.
But then, she found her body felt much lighter. It was as if a thin veil had been lifted from her eyes, and the entire world suddenly became much clearer.
The original owner’s obsession had disappeared.
However, she had taken on new responsibilities.
She was a person of her word. Since she had promised Madam Jiang, she would not go back on her word just because Madam Jiang had died.
